S-15 with a 472?

[BobL]

Hi, I'm new here and wandered in because I have a nice 1989 GMC S-15 I bought new and a 472 motor. I bought the truck to build a hot rod from and just never got to it.Now I've got all my other jones taken care of and am back to this . Has anyone done it? Is it viable? I've been a auto shop owner for 20+ years and a tech for 40+, but I have been focused on new cars and keeping up with that end of the car world. This (hopefully) will be a interesting diversion from the daily humdrums.Thank you for your time and any advise. Bob L.

 

[Monzallac 425]

Shouldn't be too bad of a swap, everything is possible. Steering is is probably going to be your biggest hurdle......that was mine on my Monza.
Oil pan too...could give you problems.

Good Luck on your project.

Doug in P.R.

 

[Caddylackn]

There are three different pans that fit a 472- front, mid, and rear sump so you have options. I would guess you would need the rear sump like a 350 SBC. We know that swap fits.

The steering shaft hitting the driver's exhaust or the exhaust hitting the brake booster is probably the toughest part. There are three different drivers manifolds (sedan, Eldorado, 425) so you have options, or custom headers.
You can use a 425 oil pump (it has a different angle) or one of the Cad Company engine swap oil pump to help clear the cross member and use a short oil filter.

You need to run a turbo 400 or a big block ready manual transmission, so that will be part of the swap. A turbo 350 won't handle the 500+ ft lbs of torque. You would want an 8.8" or 9" rear. No 10 bolts here.

I would bet a 472 is very possible, a BBC has been done many times and the big 472 is lighter and not really any bigger. You can hog out the divider in the super low profile 472 stock cast manifold, run a spacer and a quadrajet and have a good shot at using the stock hood without a scoop.

 

[Darius]

Hi, I'm new here and wandered in because I have a nice 1989 GMC S-15 I bought new and a 472 motor. I bought the truck to build a hot rod from and just never got to it.Now I've got all my other jones taken care of and am back to this . Has anyone done it? Is it viable? I've been a auto shop owner for 20+ years and a tech for 40+, but I have been focused on new cars and keeping up with that end of the car world. This (hopefully) will be a interesting diversion from the daily humdrums.Thank you for your time and any advise. Bob L.

Hello BobL

I haven’t been posting much lately but I’ve got some Deep roots at this place. Most of which involves mating a late Cadillac 500 with a 1950 Studebaker 4 Dr, sitting on a first gen S-10 frame. Bottom line: the engine fits fine in the frame!

Since my project doesn’t use the pickup body as yours does, I can’t speak to
the “fore & aft” clearances. Getting that big engine under the Studebaker hood, leaving room for a radiator/fan required a 4 inch setback of the firewall. A rear sump oil pan clears everything underneath.

Hope this helps. https://cadillacmagazine.com/forums/threads/showing-you-my-junk-–-pictures-included.16215/

bro. d